Alagaesia's Salvation
by Awesomestock2001
Summary: This is a crossover of sorts containing elements from many movies books and games, I own none of those elements. What happens when an immortal shapeshifter intervenes in the events Alagaesia? Will he improve it or make it worse?
1. Chapter 1

Weeping, Eragon held his hand, comforting him as best he could. His vigil was unwavering and steadfast, unbroken by food or drink. As the long hours passed, a gray pallor crept over Brom, and his eyes slowly dimmed. His hands grew icy, the air around him took on an evil humor. Powerless to help, Eragon could only watch as the Ra'zac wound took its toll.

All of a sudden the from the entrance of the cave shown a little brighter. Turning his head to see what happened, he saw a figure in the light and he felt the presence of a vast mind touch his and before Eragon could muster any sort of defense the mind told him in the ancient language, " _Peace, I mean you no harm."_

"Who are you?" Murtagh asked alarmed but his hand did not creep to his weapon so Eragon knew this being touched his mind as well. Saphira also appeared to have heard him.

"I go by many names but, you may call me Brenden." He said, as he stepped into out of the light.

"My apologies I am Murtagh."

"I am Eragon son of none."

" _I am Saphira the last daughter of the sky."_ Saphira stated matter of factly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Brenden said kindly.

"Can you help him? I did all I could." Eragon asked weakly.

"Aye" Brenden told him kindly before stepping forwards and kneeling before Brom and closing his eyes glazed over slightly as a stream of words flowed from his lips to fast for Eragon to understand. In this moment Eragon began to study him. Brenden was about an inch taller than him with dark brown hair that fell about and inch above his brow and it crept over his ears. His eyes were a deep pale blue, slightly paler than the sky. His nose was a straight and a little short, and he had slight smile lines at the corners of his mouth as if he was accustomed to laughing alot. He was fairer than any human that Eragon had met suggesting he was something else entirely.

After a couple of minutes Brenden was done healing Brom, Eragon could see now color returning to Brom's cheeks. He stirred slightly but, he did not wake.

"He must rest Eragon." Brenden told him. "That wound exacted a toll on him. Now allow me to heal you." Brenden finished healing him much more quickly than he did with Brom.

"Thank you, Brenden thank you." He said tears springing to his eyes.

Saphira, " _Thank you for helping my rider and the old one. We are in your dept."_

Brenden spoke sharply but no harshly, "Nay you are not in my dept O ironFang I did as I knew was right."

" _Be that as it may thank you."_ Saphira told him gentely

"I have kept quiet as not to disturb you two as you healed Brom but, you must explain yourself." Murtagh said cautiously.

" _I second that."_ Saphira said through Eragon curiously.

"I will explain myself as far as I can without telling you two more than you can handle, understand it is not because I wish to withhold information but because you two are not equipped to handle it." He told the two of them.

"Alright that will be acceptable." Eragon said courteously.

"Fine." Murtagh huffed.

"My part in this tale began 100 years ago shortly before the battle of Doni Areaba Vrael needed advice of an ancient being as old as the gods. He and his dragon Umaroth flew to the far reaches of the North as fast as they could fly, once they reached an ancient temple created by beings lost to time they met this ancient one. He told them of a course of action that had the only chance of success, a path wrought with sacrifice. This plan troubled Vrael and Umaroth for they believed the risk was great but, in the end they came to terms with the fact that the reward was greater. Then they enacted the plan and flew back to Vroengard with the being following them to oversee the enactment of this plan. After the completion of the plan this being left for his part in his plan had not yet come to pass. Now we go a century into the future where this being returns to Alagaesia to finish what he has started, that being is me." Brenden explained slowly.

"Now Rest, I know you have more questions but rest and I will answer them. Murtagh and I have much to talk about." Brenden told Eragon and Saphira. Eragon's eyes growing heavy as he uttered the command, he crept back to his makeshift bed and collapsed. Soon Saphira fell back to sleep as well.

After an awkward silence Brenden began with, "I know you are Morzan's son but, I trust you understand that, you must know though, Brom will recognize you instantly."

After a few hours Eragon and Saphira awoke to Brenden roasting the ribs of a pig. He explained to Brom who he was and how he had healed Brom's wound and the grand plan he had enacted. As Brenden had finished talking he checked the ribs with a hunting knife and said they were ready. He handed them a plate of ribs with what he called barbecue sauce. They smelled delicious but, all three were cautious for they had not eaten that part of a pig before. That was until Brenden tore into them viciously moaning slightly with satisfaction.

"Guys seriously dig in and we'll talk afterwards, or i'm going to eat those.." He told them all sharply.

Brom took an experimental bite out of them but not before saying, "I have not eaten in a couple of days and I am still recovering, besides if he can heal a wound like that without breaking a sweat he can't be that bad of a cook."

Brenden watched closely waiting for Brom's answer before saying, "You like them?"

Brom took a moment to say, "This is the finest cut of meat I have ever had, we are going to eat these as often as possible understood."

Brenden looked at him satisfied with the praise and told him, "I will make them once again when we all get to Farthen Dur. Now you two heard Brom, eat."

Once everyone had eaten their fill Brenden said, "Now you three must travel to Gil'ead and rescue the elf known as Arya and give her this potion once when you are all in relative safety." Brenden handed brom the potion before continuing, "Then tell Arya a man by the name of Brenden asked us to deliver the message 'The Night remains until the Breaking of a New Dawn.' She will understand. After that immediately head to the entrance of Farthen Dur I will meet you just shy of the entrance. While you are doing this I have a mission of my own to attend to, at Uru'baen. Like I said, 'I will meet you at the entrance of Farthen Dur.' I guarantee it."

"This plan is incredibly dangerous and has a great risk but, I understand the need to save the elf. Is this venture worth the risk though? We would be traveling back through the Empire past Uru'baen. That is too dangerous. Also you are going to Uru'Baen that is suicide. " Brom exclaimed with an anger that surprised Eragon.

"Be that as it may, I MUST GO TO URU'BAEN ARYA CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO DIE! Understand Brom she is essential to everything as is my mission, without her none of you will survive to make it to Du Weldenvarden and if I do not undergo this mission you will all die." Brenden argued back with equal veracity. "One more thing, I cannot help every step of the way but, I can help when it matters most. Now do as I told you and you will not go wrong."

" _I agree with Brenden on this matter he has planned this out for over a century and he must have calculated the risks and played it out accordingly."_ Saphira told everyone through Eragon.

"Fine but, there is one matter left, and I would like to discuss it with Murtagh and Brenden only, my apologies Eragon. Go check the surroundings and make sure the empire is not close." Brom said clearly frustrated with this plan and Brenden.

"But-" Eragon began.

Brom cut him off quickly with "No time boy go we'll call you back soon."

Once Eragon left grumpily Brom spoke saying, "Murtagh don't attempt to lie to me I know you are Morzan's son. I will not judge you for I know something of what you went through with him as your parent but, I do not trust you."

What Murtagh said next surprised Brom greatly, "I will do anything to prove to you how sincere I am with my intentions short of allowing you to examine my thoughts."

Brenden cut in swiftly saying, "That will be unnecessary, I trust him Brom and you can trust him too, after all without him the Ra'zac would have you in chains and you would be heading towards Uru'baen now."

"Now that we have that matter settled… I'll get Eragon." Brom said. " _Eragon, we're done you can come back in, I had to deduce whether I trusted Murtagh or not, and I deem him trustworthy."_

" _Ok I'm coming back in now."_ Eragon told him a little frustrated with being left out.

"I will travel with you until it is my time to take my leave let us prepare to set off at once." Brenden told everyone once Eragon was back. With that everyone began packing up camp preparing for the long trek. Once everyone was prepared they exited the cave.

Once they were outside Eragon asked, "How will you keep up with us while we are on horses and you have not steed?"

"Good question but, first fire an arrow as far as you can and watch it." Brenden said excited to show them his trick.

As Eragon pulled his bow and prepped the shot and at Brenden's word fired, After a second Dark blue lighting erupted around Brenen engulfing him and they watched as Brenden disappeared and the lighting blasted off after the arrow and then shot thirty feet into the air intercepting the arrow and shot back to them. Once it was back the lightning was disappeared and in its place was Brenden, lightning flickering in his eyes.

"What the-" Murtagh yelled frightened.

"What are-" Eragon started, interrupting him.

"How h**l did you do that?" Brom swore loudly interrupting them all.

"Simple, I am very different than you three for, one I am a speedster, two I am a true immortal, three I am the ancient one." Brenden said matter of factly. "As I am a speedster I harness an inter-dimensional energy known as the speed force. It enables me to run faster than any other being ever could."

"Never mind, I don't want to know how you did it." Brom said. "It sounds too confusing."

"That it is, I didn't even really begin to explain it, that was just kind of an over-view."

Ignoring him Brom told them all, "let us be off."

At that they set off moving fast to get to Gil'ead only stopping to relieve themselves and to set up camp for the night. They had a quick dinner of venison Brenden had hunted and cooked while they set up camp. They ate dinner in silence all tired from the day except for Brenden who was extremely energetic and attempted to start conversation several times but, nobody wanted to talk. Finally Brom asked for all of their swords so he could guard them, Murtagh was slightly concerned about how the guard might throw off his balance but, after a few swings he was confident in the blade. Brenden unsheathed two flawlessly forged swords. One had a light golden blade that had a white hilt and golden blade. The other sword had a pitch black blade wand a blood red hilt with a flame of pure darkness emanating from a clear gem within. They all examined Brenden's swords before taking up their positions away from each other in a circle. Brenden had insisted on an every man for themselves sparring match.

Brom was the first one to strike kicking a limb up from the ground and kicking it towards Brenden's face. Brenden calmly sliced the limb in half and deflected the following strike with ease, while deflecting a blow from Murtagh. Brenden then using a completely unique sword style battled the two of them at once while Eragon looked for an opening in order to strike at and possibly disarm Brenden. When Eragon made his move he threw a handful of dirt at Brenden's face in an attempt to blind him but, Brenden ducked underneath Brom's guard and knocked his sword out of his hand a that exact moment then he attacked Murtagh with 3 rapid hits and knocked the blade from his hand before he spun around and kicked the hilt of Zar'roc knocking eragon to the ground and he held his swords in an X shape with Eragon's head in the between the blades.

Brom, cried "That is the greatest swordsmanship I have ever seen and I watched as Vrael battled Galbatorix."

Murtagh asked him awestruck, "How could you battle the three of us like that and win?"

"I have had more training that all of you combined, and I have a unique fighting style that I can adapt to a fighter's attacks." He said simply.

Eragon stated sadly, "I can't believe we lost that easily."

Saphira told Eragon seriously, "Eragon he is immortal and has had enough training to wade through battle and cut down anyone who gets in his way, be glad he is on our side, he is a true hunter."

" Saphira is right do not feel sorry for yourself Eragon, it would take all three of you plus several elves to even stand a chance against me, I am the greatest swordsman ever, I will help you all perfect the sword style you all know understand.." Brenden explained to him kindly.

"That is good to hear." Murtagh said as a way of thanks.

"Yes thank you very much." Eragon agreed

"Alright ladies, Brenden get some sleep. We'll talk about further training in the morning." Brom said to them all. 

The Next morning Eragon awoke to Brenden and Brom prepping some rabbits they had caught in the fields. Murtagh was asleep for another 20 minutes, after about 10 more minutes they all started eating in silence. At the end of the meal they packed up camp and started traveling, they continued this for routine for another two days, waking up, eating, breaking camp, traveling, lunch, more travel, dinner, and before they all went to sleep they would spar with Brenden overseeing the matches before, Brenden told them it was time for them all to part ways until they all arrived at Farthen Dur.


	2. Thief in The Night

Brenden knew that he could escort Eragon, Brom, and Murtagh part of the way to Dras Leona even though he was moving farther away from his destination because within 30 minutes at a nice jog he could make it to Uru'baen. He knew Eragon, Brom, and Murtagh would be safe Brom was sensible and wise. Besides Brenden had warned Brom about Durza and had taught Brom a few spells incase they had to duel and he had placed powerful wards on all three of them with only Brom knowing. Not only all of this but, Brenden had added enough energy into Aren that it pulsed slightly but, this could only be seen with an eye at least as powerful as an elves. He also used a spell to speed up Brom's reflexes and make brom stronger than an elf. If only so that if he must duel Durza he can win but, After they all return to Farthen Dur Brenden planned on removing these spells because they could have great side effects because of the haste at which they had to be applied.

Soon he arrived at Uru'baen in order steal the eggs, he had two eggs laid by wyverns. Wyverns are foreign to Alagaesia and were extremely similar to dragons except they were bipedal with claws on their wings and they were unintelligent and depending on the species could not breathe fire. He had enchanted the eggs to replicate the minds of the baby dragons and to look like the eggs. As he covered several leagues in the span of minutes at time he soon saw Uru'baen. He then came to a stop in order to examine the citadel. He saw the tall walls coming to an end at the walls of the overhang. He watched the guards on the wall moving across. He saw the giant gate made out of Iron and steel. He saw much more and examined every detail of it for at least ten minutes. He had already thought of a plan as he finished examining the defenses.

"This is going to be a piece of cake." he said arrogantly to himself.

When night came around he started the first step of his plan,as he ran at the capitol he turned to the right and ascended the overhang until he reached the top. Then at that point he bent his knees and and held his arms out and turned into a Falcon. He then dived from the edge and fell for one hundred feet before pulling out of the dive and turning towards the citadel. Then flying at high speeds above the houses using chimneys as thermal updrafts so he could glide as far as possible without flapping his wings to preserve energy. Once he flew to an open window he landed and turned into a mouse and crawled down the drapes and ran straight for a door and he crawled directly under it and checked for guards. Once he was sure there were no guards he shapeshifted back into a human. He groaned slightly at being able to stretch his legs out more, he loathed being any type of rodent but, he supposed it was better than a bug. After a few seconds he crept down the hallways dodging patrols until he arrived around the corner from the kings personal quarters. He say the two guards and he moved faster than they could react and with his bare hands snapped their necks in order to not alert them at all.

After he deposed of their bodies he cast a spell to learn of any enchantments and possible traps there might be on the door if any but, the king tried to open. When he learned of the enchantments and traps he disabled them all after a couple of minutes with several spells. He then crept in to see what the king might have kept hidden there. Once inside he ran at full speed checking everything within the room looking for any and all secrets. Once he discovered all he could he burned into the wall with white and gold fire 'YOU ARE NOT SAFE I WILL BE YOUR DOOM...YOU CANNOT WIN...I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU WILL EVER BECOME ONLY ONE THING COULD SAVE YOU AND IT IS OUT OF YOUR REACH...STRIVE FOR IT AS MUCH AS YOU DESIRE YOU WILL NEVER FIND IT...KNOW THIS I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM.'

Satisfied with the threat he left to go to the treasure room. Sadly the most direct route is straight towards through the throne room. He trekked down to the throne room all the while dodging guard patrols and enemy magicians luckily they were unable to sense his mind do to his spells he placed on himself. As he kept down to the throne room he found an open window and went to it and checked down below. What he saw pleased him greatly, it dropped to a wide open space with a small open window leading directly to the throne room. This window was too small for a human, an elf, or even a dwarf to get in but, he could easily enter as a small bird. He shapeshifted again and flew for the window. Once there he looked inside and what he saw surprised him, it was galbatorix scrying Durza and speaking to him. There were black leathery curtains that Brenden knew were the wings of Shruikan one of the largest dragons ever at a total length by his estimate of 330 ft. Brenden could see that shruikan head was resting down towards the front of the throne room, his head alone made Saphira seem diminutive. Brenden then paid attention to the conversation at hand.

"-is proving to be more resilient than we anticipated." Durza said cautiously paler than usual.

"Break the elf's mind within the week or bring her to me Durza." Galbatorix said softly and threateningly.

Durza seemed to turn even paler, if that was possible, before stammering, " Y-y-yes my lord."

Brenden smiled in his mind's eye more since he was still a bird and thought to himself, "I wonder how angry Galbatorix is going to be when Arya is rescued?"

"Now when the urgals attack Farthen Dur I want you to lead the charge and bring me Ajjahad's head." galbatorix spoke wickedly before ending the spell with swish of his hand.

Shruikan moved slightly and growled a deafening sound louder than an explosion.

Galbatorix was silent for a moment before he said, "Shruikan don't be so angry I'll get you some food soon. Now go back to sleep we have a flight in the morning."

Shruikan growled less loud than before but, the sound was still deafening.

Brenden up in his perch sat there amused wondering how they didn't know he was there. He was figuring out how to get past the window when Galbatorix left the throne room Brenden changed into a germ and floated to the crack between the window and the concrete. He floated to the ground behind the throne and changed his shape into the form of Galbatorix. Then he snuck past Shruikan into a passage that descended into the treasury. Once he arrived at the treasury he shapeshifted back into his true shape and entered the treasury. He searched the entire treasury for the eggs gathering several Rider's swords all the while, until he came across two chests one pure green the other red as wine. He searched for any spells that may lie upon the chests. Once he was satisfied with that the chests were safe he opened the red one and replaced it with the red wyvern egg. Then he swiftly replaced the Green egg with the green wyvern egg. He then placed the eggs in his pack and a started placing the chests back when he heard footsteps coming from around the corner. He quickly changed shape into something that was pure black with a black lightning bolt on his chest and a hood that obscures his whole face, he then acted like he was just pulling the chests out when he heard a voice bark, "Garjzla"

Faster than an arrow Brenden bent backwards as the bolt of lightning flew overhead, he grabbed it and hurled it back at Galbatorix and watched as it bounced of his wards. He then ran back and forth at the end of the passageway and stopped and hurled the lightning he created throwing 5 lightning bolts that arced across and removed many of his wards.

"You are a lightning master, you know spells that I do not, and I could not sense your mind, who are you?" Galbatorix asked buying time to find a visible weakness and a spell that might harm him.

"One whose magical prowess far surpasses your own." Brenden said with his voice sounding similar to a demon's, rasping with malice and amusement. "I have been in your citadel since dusk, I watched you conversing with you shade, I remained hidden from you guards for far longer than any other being in this world could have I was in your private quarters and I almost stole the dragon eggs out from under your very nose without realising I was here until I was long gone, do you truly believe that even if you manage to get past my wards you can harm me?"

Galbatorix stares at him dumbfounded that he was able to accomplish so much without being found and the fact that he almost escaped without notice, before he quickly recovered his composure and saying, "It seems I was mistaken in asking you who you are, perhaps I should have asked what you are and your name, and maybe we can come to an agreement and be allies."

"I am 'Worldcrosser', 'Nightslayer', 'Firewalker', and I am the 'Ancient One.' These are but, a few of my many titles, as for what I am that is a tale that you would never believe, just know this..." Brenden said murderously before running forwards faster than Galbatorix could even see and lifting him up by his throat, "...I AM THE FASTEST BEING ALIVE!"

Then as fast as he could run in that form, he left Uru'Baen in the dust and headed towards Ellesmera to give the eggs to The Cripple who is whole. He ran faster than even a dragon could fly crossing lakes, rivers, and plains with impunity. Once he arrived at the outskirts of the wards that protected the elven cities he changed shape back into his true shape for Oromis's benefit. Once he could pass through the wards he ran once again raced at momentous speeds until finally he reached the Crags of Telenor. He saw that Oromis and Glaedr were not there and he realized they might be flying above the forest, so he decided to leave a note and the eggs for Oromis explaining how he had recovered the eggs and who their riders would be. He then opened up a portal to the time and place where Brom, Eragon, Murtagh, and Arya would be at near the Entrance to Farthen Dur.

 _ **Author's note:**_ I took many elements from the flash for this to conceal the identity of Brenden from Galbatorix, the form Brenden took was of Zoom from the CW Flash TV show.

I made a guess at about how long Shruikan would be based off of how large Saphira and Thorn were at the end of Inheritance. By my guess 330 feet seems a fair length because a 10 story building is 100 ft. tall and by the sounds of what they say in the book he was at least 300 ft in length. I also think 330 is a good size for him making him seem colossal but not large to the point that he is completely unrealistic in the Inheritance universe.


	3. The Rescue

Shortly after Brenden left Brom made them break for a quick lunch of dried strips of meat. A meager meal compared to what they ate with Brenden. Eragon ate silently while thinking of ways to sneak into the prison and rescue Arya. Whereas brom and Murtagh were both voicing their opinions about how to go about rescuing her.

"There is no way to rescue Arya without raising alarm. There are too many guards and patrols to effectively sneak in and out." Brom said clearly frustrated.

Finally Eragon spoke up at having heard this, "There has to be a way to get in, Murtagh is there any possible way to get and get out safely, maybe Saphira could help us escape?"

" _Little one I could carry the 4 of you for a short distance only but, I could do it."_ Saphira said without conviction.

After much thought Murtagh spoke up triumphantly, "If we sneak in through the garbage chute, and have Saphira break apart the roof of a building we can get in and out easily."

"That might actually work." Brom said impressed, "But there is one thing that Brenden told me about that he wanted me prepared more than the two of you because I and I will be dealing with this threat. It is going to be a desperate fight possibly more so than my fight with Morzan but, with a little bit of luck I won't have to combat him."

"What could be this dangerous that Brenden had to prepare you for a such a fight?" Eragon asked concerned.

"A shade." Brom said quietly.

"A SHADE WE CANNOT BEAT A SHADE." Murtagh exclaimed with little room for argument.

"Listen to me boy, Brenden has prepared me for this fight and has given me enough energy to move mountains and raise islands out of the deepest trenches and still have enough energy to combat this shade." Brom told them, angry for Murtagh doubting him.

"Brom are you sure you can win?" Eragon asked worried.

" _I believe in him Eragon, if he was prepared by Brenden and Brenden was satisfied with the results then we must try, we cannot allow an elf to die."_ Saphira said to him and him alone.

A light twinkled in his eyes while he said, "I know I can."

"Fine but, if I die, I am going to kill you both." Murtagh said defeated.

_ That night they set out leaving Murtagh to stay with Saphira to help get everyone to safety. As they arrived at a wooden garbage chute Brom pulled out rags to help block the smell and 4 small knives for them to use as they climbed. The chute was short but, steep and was lined with filth, once they got out of there Brom and Eragon knew they would have to bathe for a week. They arrived at the top after about 3 minutes, slightly faster than they thought they would. They continued down through the prison searching for the Arya's gear before, finally finding it in a storeroom that was isolated from the rest of the camp. As they left the store room two guards started rounding a corner and before Eragon could react two balls of fire whipped past him and incinerated the guards killing them instantly. Eragon whirled around to see Brom standing there not even winded from the spell.

"What are you waiting for, the shade to find us and die from shock?" Brom said impatiently.

After they found Arya's gear they went farther into the prison until they came across the cells. They both took a side of the hallway checking to see which cell contained Arya, after Eragon checked 7 cells before seeing her lying down on her cot eyes drooping and a pained expression on her face. Her Raven colored locks obscuring her pointed ears. A tight leather jerkin, and leather leggings that looked to be skin tight.

"Brom she's in here and she's awake." Eragon whispered loud enough for Brom to hear. Then he cast a spell to unlock the cell door and he entered to see Arya sitting with one hand supporting her on the cot before she collapsed from the effort almost falling of the cot before Eragon rushed forwards and caught her.

"Brom she passed out, what do we do?" Eragon asked worried.

"She'll be fine she's in a self imposed coma to help escape the pain of her wounds, I have Brenden's potion, I know he told me to give it to her once we got to safety but, We can't carry her out of here and fight a shade." Brom quickly explained as he poured the potion into her mouth. The potion was a deep golden liquid that seemed that smelt heavily of flowers and the spine in the spring, a pleasant forest scent.

After a few seconds she didn't awaken so Eragon offered to carry her until she woke up. She was little lighter than Eragon had suspected but, was heavy enough that he could not run while holding her. Once Brom was satisfied that she would be safe they set off towards the store room they were going to have Saphira rescue them from. They encountered a patrol that Brom quickly slayed with a much subtler spell than what he used earlier causing them to have the liquids drain out of them turning them to dust in a matter of seconds. Horrified at the way Brom killed them Eragon held down bile rising in his throat and pressed on. Once they arrived safely at the store room Eragon contacted Saphira and sent her pictures of where they were and waited. After a few seconds they heard a slight crash on the roof normally not loud enough to arouse suspicion but, under the circumstances they knew it was Saphira who was on the roof. At that moment however Arya awoke to see the two of them standing there.

"In the case that you are fulfilling your duty Brom I must know why are you here?" It's too dange-" Arya managed to get this out before Brom cut her off with

"a man by the name of Brenden asked us to deliver the message 'The Night remains until the Breaking of a New Dawn."

"When did you meet this man Brom and why did he feel that you needed to tell me this?" Arya asked frowning slightly.

Before they could continue a menacing voice filled with malice spoke out "Yes I would like to know this too."

They turned and saw a tall pale man with blood red hair and clothes just as red. He bore a grin with teeth filed to points and pure black nails filed to points. In his right hand he held long skinny sword paler than he was with a long scratch running down the center of his blade.

"Durza, we meet at last." Brom said cooly, a murderous look on his face.

"Brom you can't beat him, he's too powerful." Arya said in despair.

"Yes Brom we both know you got lucky with Morzan." Durza said demeaningly.

"I killed Morzan because I was better than him just as I am better than you Durza." Brom said flatly. To Arya he said, "He is nowhere close to how powerful I am at this point."

Eragon chose that moment to say, "Tear his head off."

"I will do worse than that." Brom said before lunging forwards faster than they had in any of their sparring matches. At that same time Durza struck blocking Brom's sword as they moved faster and faster until they were blurs to Eragon, it seemed neither of them could gain the upper hand in swordsmanship when all of a sudden Brom kicked Durza the chest knocking him to ground and raised his sword to strike. As the blade flew through the air Durza raised his sword in time to deflect the blade to head on a course for his neck instead. The sword removed his head but as it passed through Durza disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"NO." Brom roared in anger. "The fiend knew I was going to kill him so he redirected the blade so it wouldn't pierce the lump of coal in his chest he calls a heart."

Eragon remained silent because throughout the fight crashing on the roof started going off until it was almost deafening. Rubble falling from the roof and glints of blue were showing. Then all of a sudden Saphira's glittering head erupted through the roof like a snake striking a rabbit in its den. In the saddle they saw Murtagh grinning at having been able to ride a dragon.

"What took you so long" Eragon asked laughing at how ridiculous Murtagh looked.

" _You try digging through a stone roof while defending this one from soldiers."_ Saphira told him sarcastically.

"There were a few soldiers but, Saphira and I took care of them pretty easily." Murtagh said still grinning.

"I didn't think I would see a dragon for a long time." Arya said surprised.

"Enough jibber jabber." Brom interrupted rolling his eyes. "Let us be off."

With that they all climbed onto Saphira's back with leaving no room at all, and everyone was cramped on her back. Brom fed her energy as she set off allowing her to fly above any arrows that came close to hitting them. They flew for several miles until they reached what seemed to be a distance that would dissuade pursuers, they landed to make camp and to treat Arya's wounds. They were curious to why the potion didn't heal her wounds.

"The reason why the potion didn't heal my wounds is because I had been poisoned with an extremely powerful substance." Arya explained.

"Is that why you entered the coma?" Eragon asked concerned.

"Yes in the trance it slows the poison, I would have been fine for another few weeks. I only entered that trance because I felt safe when I saw Eragon, I could see the Gedwëy ignasia." Arya explained warily. "I still have wounds that need to be seen to however."

"I can heal your wounds but, I will need to put you in a magically induced sleep to properly examine your wounds." Brom told her with a slight frown on his face. "I also would like a second opinion on how I should tend to your wounds and since Eragon is the only other magic user I am going to require his help."

"Are you sure, I know very little about healing." Eragon said surprised.

" _It is best that you learn how to heal people Eragon, you could save many lives."_ Saphira told him adamantly

"Even with that, It is still best to have a second opinion." Brom told him. "Besides as a dragon rider you will need to be able to heal people and this can help provide you with some experience but, I will only do that with your permission Arya."

Arya answered him saying, "Yes I agree it would be best for Eragon to get some needed experience." During this time she had lain down on bedding

"I'm going to put you to sleep now and we'll begin working." Brom told her calmly before he used a spell to put her to sleep.

"Now let's begin eragon." Brom said a worried expression on his face. As he lifted her shirt to look at her back his face turned from worried to horrified and angry through the span of a few seconds. Brom let loose a barrage of curses at the full extent of the damage done to her. Eragon looked over and saw to his unbelieving eyes the full extent of the damage. Her back was covered with scabs that made her skin look like dry, cracked mud. She had been whipped mercilessly and branded with hot iron rods in the shape of claws. Where her skin was still intact but, it was purple and black from numerous beatings. On her left shoulder was a tattoo inscribed with indigo ink. It was the same symbol that had been on the sapphire of Brom's ring. Murtagh rushed forwards hearing Brom and swore loudly at the damage.

"How could she have even walked after such torture." Murtagh asked horrified.

" _She is strong to have withstood such damage."_ Saphira said impressed.

"Brenden's potion must have done a lot more than heal the potion, it must have held back the pain of the beatings and given her newfound strength to keep going." Brom said shaking with anger at her abuse and relief that the potion had done so much for her.

"Couldn't Brenden have enchanted the potion to do more than that?" Eragon asked angrily.

"Don't doubt how important that potion had done, if he had enchanted it to completely heal her such a project would have taken months if not years for the potion to have been ready. Be glad it did as much as it did." Brom chastised him without anger.

" _You two need to heal her, some of those wounds could get infected, not only that but, they will be searching for us._ " Saphira warned.

"She is right Eragon, we cannot tarry." Brom agreed.

"Let us begin."

They first went over the more serious wounds with Brom quizzing Eragon over the best way to heal them, and throughout the healing Brom refused to use the energy Brenden had given him saying, that it would be best to save it. Once they went to the more minor wounds Brom had Eragon heal the bruises and scrapes, but Brom healed the burns. They preserved Arya's modesty as best as they could, even though under the abuse Eragon could tell she was quite beautiful indeed. They finished much sooner than they would have had Brom healed her alone. They were glad to see murtagh had cooked some venison.

"Murtagh, thank you for the food, that healing took a lot out of us." Brom said.

"Aye" Eragon agreed tiredly. "Should we wake her soon? We'll have to set off tonight if we want to evade capture."

"We should wake her very soon but, you must know she does not eat meat, we have some bread she can eat for tonight, but we'll need to gather up some food for her in the wilderness until she is at full strength." Brom told the two of them.

"Will we wake her when we're finished eating?" Eragon asked wanting to make sure Arya was well.

Brom answered him with a simple, "Aye."

They ate ravenously tearing through the meat on their plates and the little bread that they hadn't saved for Arya. After Murtagh ate they asked him if he wanted anymore and when he declined they filled their plates once again. They left enough venison to satisfy Saphira for a day or two so she would not have to hunt that night. They then packed up camp and put out the small fire Murtagh had cleverly made the fire positioned in a hollow depression hidden in a hill that blocked the light from prying eyes.

When Arya awoke she asked, "Am I fully healed?"

"Yes you are." Brom answered her.

"Good...thank you Brom, Eragon, Murtagh, Saphira...Thank you all for my rescue and my healing." Arya said Grateful for the risk they took in rescuing her.

"Don't thank us yet we have to get to Farthen Dur still." Brom told her." The best course of action would be to brave a small portion of the Hadarac desert."

"Yes that is the fastest but, not the safest way to go." Arya told them. "But it is the fastest and we are in great need for speed."

"I always liked a race." Brom said smiling.

"As do I." Murtagh said grinning.

"Same here, and now we are in one for our lives." Eragon said smiling himself.

 **Author's note:** The next chapter will fast forwards a bit into the future for the sake of events that were majorly changed like entering into Farthen Dur and the battle of farthen dur.


	4. The varden

Brom watched as Eragon and saphira flew above the kull dropping massive stones causing confusion among their ranks. He turned back to where he was going spurring snowfire to run faster than before to get to Farthen Dur in order to get help against the kull. He hoped that once they got to the lake they could get Brenden's help.

"We have to go faster." Brom yelled into the wind.

"We'll kill the horses at this rate if we don't get there soon." Murtagh said grim.

"I can run ahead of the horses if I need to get help." Arya said frustrated at the rate they were going at.

"No it's too dangerous, besides we're almost there." Brom told her once again.

"Fine." Arya said angrily.

"Enough we made our decisions and there's no going back now." Murtagh said rolling his eyes, having heard this argument enough between the two of them.

Brom looked back once again to see Eragon flying back as he felt a pressure on his mind. He lowered his barriers to hear Eragon say, "The lake is just up ahead, I'll meet you there. Once we're there you and Arya have to get us in."

Eragon exiting before Brom could respond. Out loud he said, "Eragon says that the lake is just up ahead."

"Then let us ride." Arya said.

They pushed the horses even harder than before. They pushed through the brush trying to get there and gain entrance to the Farthen Dur. They entered the clearing and saw the lake. However Brenden was not in sight. Brom opened his mouth to speak when all of a sudden, 15 feet above the lake a swirling vortex of blue energy appeared.

Brenden erupted out over the lake nimbly rolling onto the shore before he hit the ground, before he saw through the trees that an army of kull, and he saw the astonished expressions of Murtagh and Brom, however Arya had a thin grin on her face before, she regained her regal composure. He smiled back at her and before they gained any suspicions he shot Murtagh and Brom a smug grin before he summoned a large metal bull with massive horns gleaming and a saddle on its back. He leaped onto the bull's back and waited for the kull to arrive.

He Saw Saphira land not to far away and he looked back to see the trio still gaping at him before Brom said, "We must go don't try to fight such an army they will over run you in seconds."

"No they shall not because I have some tricks up my sleeves." Brenden said. "Now run you fools, run."

"When did-" Eragon started.

"NO TIME NOW GO!" Brenden yelled.

And with that they went to the path and dismounted to lead the horses along the path. Brenden turned once again to brave the army of Kull and he once they exited the trees Brenden lifted one of his swords blasted a ball of energy into the air and watched as it spewed masses of energy into the enemy causing mass mayhem among the kull before he charged into battle himself losing blasts of energy into the enemies and as kull were hurled into the air by the bull Brenden shot lightning into them and it would arc around the groups of kull killing them instantly. Soon arrows erupted shot out of the sky slaying kull left and right as they were slaughtered. Sensing victory Brenden dispelled the ball of energy in the sky and turned back to see the group being ushered into a tunnel. He rode to the lake shore and dismounted and returned the bull to where he had summoned it from.

He then ran across the water reaching the entrance to the tunnel in a matter of seconds. Once he reached the entrance he leaped in as it started to close despite Eragon yelling that they had one more with them.

"That was fun." Brenden said grinning.

Murtagh stared at Brenden stunned that anyone besides Galbatorix could take on an army of kull like that alone. He couldn't believe it, that he had just witnessed something until that fight he had believed impossible. He realized then that Brenden might be able to combat the king and that Eragon might not be the Varden's only hope.

He had been ignoring the proceedings when a tall bald man said, "Now in order to enter Farthen Dur we must read each of your thoughts to confirm who you are and if you are telling the truth or not about escaping the Empire."

Brenden glared at the man and said in a threatening tone, " Try it and I will shatter your mind and drive you to insanity, you will not enter my mind and NEITHER WILL _YOU_ ENTER INTO THE MINDS OF ANYONE HERE!"

The bald man didn't seem concerned by this until Brenden sent out an unrelenting tide of thought that pressed against Murtagh's mind but, did not break into his. Murtagh almost laughed at the horrified expression on the man's face and he immediately said, "Oh Powerful one I did not mean offence when I said I must enter the minds of you and your companions, I merely meant that in order to enter the city you have to have your mind read, I must ensure you are not malevolent and are willing to do the Varden great harm. I am only doing my job."

A dwarf with a brown beard spoke up and said, "All you're doing is trying to cause trouble where there is none."

The man was too busy cowering and practically shaking in his fear to take notice of this however but, Brenden wasn't done yet, "Oh I understand the reading of our minds, I meant I don't want _you_ to read our minds."

The man grew a look of anger that he quickly replaced with a look of fear. "Of course oh great one, who would you like to proceed with reading your mind."

"Oh I already contacted her, it's Angela the Herbalist." Brenden said with a wry grin on his face.

"That was very amusing." A voice said from down the tunnel. Everyone looked to see the herbalist walking down with Solembum at her heals. "It's good to see you again Brenden it's been a long time, yet you haven't aged a day."

"It's only been a decade besides I'm immortal." Brenden said smirking.

Angela rolled her eyes at this before saying, "Whatever, let's get this over with, I was sleeping you know."

"Sorry it was either wake you or have this sniveling weasel read our minds." He said indicating the bald man.

"That's insulting to weasels, he's more of a roach." Angela said smiling.

"Now just-" The bald man began.

"Hey the adults are talking, it's rude to interrupt your superiors." Angela said holding back a laugh as the bald man's face was turning as red as a tomato.

All of a sudden Eragon became cracking up as the bald man started spluttering with rage, this got Murtagh to laugh and before long the Brom, Arya, and Saphira were laughing as well as Brenden and Angela continued insulted the man. Once they stopped laughing Angela began to search their minds quickly and gently and confirmed what they all had said about themselves, however Murtagh refused to let her enter his mind, he had told them that his mind was his last sanctuary and it was his and his alone to be in. They warned him what would happen if he didn't allow anyone in his mind but, he was adamant. Brenden told murtagh he understood what Murtagh felt and agreed with his decision.

"Now I am going to go back to my quarters and sleep." She said to them all before stopping at the bald man and saying, "O'bald One."

The man looked like he was going to explode at that but, he took a few deep breaths before saying, "Come with me we are going to see Ajihad."

"About time." Brom muttered under his breath.

With that they went off, Eragon riding Saphira while Brom, Arya, and Murtagh rode on horses and Brenden walked behind them as if he was a rear guard. After traveling for what seemed to be a mile or two they finally emerged from the tunnel. When they emerged they saw that there was a huge fortress inside a hollow mountain, with huge icicles close to the size of houses. Also the fortress was truly massive and heavily fortified and could house thousands if not millions. Word of them must have beaten them to the city because, there were thousands of people waiting for them. The crowd saw them silently until Eragon waved his hand nervously causing the crowd to cheer and Murtagh to grin slightly at him. Saphira roared loudly causing them to pause and then cheer even louder than before. Soon the bald man forced them through the crowd towards the city. Eragon was asking the dwarf Orik about the city and how many humans were in the varden. He soon moved on to asking him various questions about dwarves and how they provided resources for the varden and the dwarves. Orik seemed happy to oblige, Murtagh could tell those two were going to be good friends and thought to himself miserably, "At least when Ajihad finds out who I am Eragon will have another friend."

They continued to walk to where Ajihad's war room was and entered. Murtagh was curious to see who the mysterious Ajihad was, especially after all he had heard about at Uru'baen. Once they entered Murtagh saw 3 men one who looked exactly like the bald man who had been insulted by Brenden and Angela. Murtagh had a suspicion that the two were related. The second man was a tall wiry fellow who had one a thick leather jerkin and a sword at his side. The final man's skin was the color of coal, he was well built and wore a commander's armour, he had a long sword at his side and he held the room at attention.

The dark man stared attentively at all of them stopping a Murtagh he frowned slightly as he studied him before he said in a deep, "I am Ajihad, it is nice to meet all of you, I know Brom and Arya but, I would like to meet the four of you. I also would like to know why the son of Morzan is traveling with you all and why he has not had his mind read."

Orik said, "I know not why they refuse to have his mind read, but I do know that they trust him more than anyone else would."

Brenden spoke up and said, "I did not travel with them the whole time, I came here on my own but, I do know that all but Murtagh would be imprisoned before the king at this time. I trust him as much as I trust any here in this room, except for the twins. They are weasley troublemakers." In emphasis he stomped his foot at them and they flinched, this got a quick little smile out of Ajihad but, he recovered before they saw.

"As it is I cannot guarantee to the safety of the Varden and Murtagh without having his mind read." Ajihad said seriously. "Therefore I must ask that since he refuses to have his mind read, he must stay confined in his room with an armed guard there at all times."

"That seems fair, I would like to know though, what would my privileges be?" Murtagh asked curious.

"You would be fed fine food, and would be able to have your pick of scrolls from the library." Ajihad told him kindly.

"That is perfectly fine with me, I probably would not have left my room even if I was given my freedom." Murtagh said.

"Then this is the perfect arrangement." Ajihad said. "Now I would like to know the story of how you all came here and how Eragon came across Saphira."

Then everyone except Brenden told the story Eragon, Saphira, and Brom telling most of the story with Murtagh joining in for how he came to be hunting the Ra'zac and how Brenden healed Brom. When they rescued Arya, she told some of the horrors she had faced while imprisoned. This renewed all of the anger they had felt when they first beheld Arya's wounds.

They soon finished and looked to Brenden to hear his story when he said, "My part is one you will not know about until after Eragon is with the elves."

Ajihad spoke up and said, "I must know your part in this in order to trust you, tell me know or be imprisoned."

"First of all you could never imprison me. Second of all I have information that could be of use to you in preventing the Varden from being wiped out." Brenden told him calmly.

"What are you talking about Brenden." Brom asked?

"What did you do tell us now." Arya said commandingly.

"Fine, if you wish to know there is an army of kull gathering at the abandoned dwarven city of Orthiad, if you do not believe me send scouts there to find out for yourselves." Brenden said while popping his knuckles absentmindedly."

"We'll make sure to check that, the only reason I am going to let you go free for now, is the fact that you managed to save the five of them." Ajihad said firmly.

Murtagh spoke up at that point and said, "Brenden fought of an army of kull, he saved Brom and he is the reason why we were able to save Arya, and you don't trust him. That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard he is the only reason why any of us are alive right now."

"Murtagh's right we have to trust Brenden, he had no reason to trust us yet he did, he even saved Brom from certain death, if you don't trust him I want to have nothing to do with the Varden." Eragon said.

"Ajihad they are right, although they could have chosen to put it more delicately. You need to trust him." Brom said kindly yet firmly. "After all he could probably kill all of us without breaking a sweat if he wanted to."

Saphira finally spoke again saying, " _He is a true hunter of the sky and I trust him with my life, if you choose to imprison him, I will tear about Farthen Dur and Tronjheim."_

"I suspected no other response from a dragon, although I doubt you could get past the twins." Ajihad told her calmly.

Eragon intervened at that point saying, "Well then the twins must have great abilities for regular magicians, because Brom told me that because I have a dragon I am always stronger than him with spells."

"It's true my normal strength is not quite as much as his but, I could beat him in a duel anytime." Brom said matter of factly.

"Well this is troubling, your strongest spellweaver not counting the elves." Ajihad said frowning slightly.

Arya spoke up then, "We're only stronger than Brom because his dragon is dead. If he had a dragon he would be more powerful than any but, Brenden in this room. Also right now Saphira is young but, if she could control her magic she would decimate any elf except for a select few."

"Well then, it seems that we are luckier than I thought." Ajihad said. "Now I want you all to rest up and recover from your travels. In a few days, I want to test Eragon in arms and in magic, I have an idea of his abilities from what you have told me Brom but, it would be best if he was tested by the twins in magic and by Arya in combat."

"But-" Brom began clearly frustrated with this.

"No, I am in charge of the Varden now Brom and as much as I trust your advice, I would like the input of other sources because it is always best to have a second and third opinion." Ajihad told him firmly.

"That seems...fair." Brom said holding back his anger.

"Now when Murtagh's guards are here I want you all to rest, and I want Orik to show Eragon around Tronjheim it would be good for Eragon to get to know a dwarf and I can think of none better than Orik.." Ajihad told them all. He then told Orik that he was dismissed from the Varden and Orik's face lit up for a split second before he regained his composure.

They soon left because Murtagh's guards were there for him. When they left they all went their separate ways with Brom going with Orik and Eragon, Arya going to her usual quarters and Brenden looking for something to eat.

 **Author's note: Now you have seen some of Brenden's abilities, I hope that little fight was entertaining, in the next few chapters you'll get a lot more action. Hope you like it. Also the next chapter, we'll fast forwards again a couple days to when Eragon is being tested. Also the Varden will be preparing for the assault of the urgals, Brenden has been laying defenses and preparing Eragon for his tests along with Brom.**


	5. The Test

**Author's note: I know that this story is probably poorly written and not the greatest piece of literature in the world and I know it has probably been boring but, hopefully you will like chapter six because that will be the battle for farthen dur and it might be the longest chapter yet, or I might divide it into two or three chapters switching between points of view. All I can ask is that you bare with me this chapter, it's going to be boring a one. One last thing, please review, I'd like to know what I could improve on overall, I'll only delete the review if I feel it is personally attacking me. Now without further Ado.**

Brenden was confident in the defenses he had lain out with Ajihad's permission for the oncoming battle. He knew that the urgals would attempt to tunnel into the city from below, so he placed many traps that would slaughter any that try to enter the city from that route. Then he opened up four large tunnels, three for the varden and dwarves to defend, and one for him to defend. He finished going over the various defences he had placed and decided to see if Eragon had started his tests yet, he had a feeling the twins were going to try something after Eragon told him about his encounter with them in the library.

When he arrived at the practice field he saw Eragon being tested by the twins and Arya there too watching from the shadow's intently. He snuck over next to her and asked, "How's he doing?"

She jumped surprised that he found her so easily and said, "He's doing good with the tasks and he is using only a limited use of words in the ancient language to keep the twins from learning them."

"That's good, is it just me or does it seem like the twins are trying to keep him from succeeding but, epically failing because they failed to account for Saphira and are as incompetent as I said?"

She looked at him and said, "Yes." Before resuming watching them.

"You really don't like me do you?" Brenden said Knowing she wouldn't remember their past experiences.

"You're full of yourself and overconfident and quick to anger, not only that but, you seem to be a puppet master manipulating all of those around you to do your bidding as if just because you are more powerful than us that you own us." She said critically.

"If there is a reason I seem overconfident, it's because it's only to mask the fact that I am that I might mess up and get someone killed or worse, draw someone's attention to what I am doing, and I am quick to anger with those I don't trust understand me, and I'm really angry when I am falsely accused of trying to order people around like their my slaves, I have chosen the best course of action for the good of the people of Alagaesia. If you still don't believe me wait until we get to Ellesmera and speak to the Mourning Sage." Brenden told her with a steely calm.

She was about to respond when she saw Brenden's face go from a steely calm to pure anger and he said, "They're trying to get Eragon to summon the essence of silver."

Arya turned around and saw what was going on and started running out Brenden right behind her. She yelled, "FOR SHAME! You would have Eragon do what only a master can-"

Brenden interrupted her saying in an impossibly deep voice filled with malice, "YOU HAVE MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE, YOU WILL PAY FOR SUCH AN ACT! IF YOU WISH FOR SOMEONE TO SUMMON THE TRUE ESSENCE OF SILVER FINE YOU HAVE THEM! _**ARGET**_ _ **!"**_

Above the ring a mirror image of it appeared except it was purer and absolutely flawless. This ring seemed to glow with the energy Brenden put into the spell. Everyone except Arya and Eragon seemed to cower in fear at him. The twins turned tail and ran but, Brenden was not letting them get away that easily. He opened up a portal that teleported them right in front of him and they saw him and dropped to their knees begging forgiveness.

"Please we beg your pardon please don't kill us, we will never attempt something like this again we swear on our lives." The twins said in the ancient cowering in fear.

Brenden seemed to stiffen at this and told them, "You won't ever get the opportunity to do so again, now let's go for a ride." With that he teleported them to the top of the dragonhold and held them each in one hand dangling off the roof by their throats. "NOW IF YOU EVER DO SUCH A THING LIKE THAT TO ENDANGER ERAGON, I WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS!"

He released them before teleporting them back and saying, "LEAVE!"

He saw everyone looking at him with fear and he said calmly, "I had to give them something to fear and I know they fear me. They will never attempt to do such a thing again." Then he said to Arya and Eragon in the ancient language, "You have nothing to fear from me, I swear on everything that I hold dear to my heart, you have nothing to fear, I am a friend and ally."

They seemed to relax at this and Arya told him, "It seems I judged you to hardly for you were willing to invoke the wrath of the Varden for Eragon."

Eragon still scared of Brenden said, "Were you really willing to kill them for that?"

"As I told Arya, I have chosen the best path for the future of Alagaesia. I am willing to do almost anything for this plan because, millions of lives are at stake and millions more to come, you are key to this plan as are you Arya, even if you weren't essential to this plan I will do all that is in my power to keep you two safe and my power is great...Now let's put this event behind us, I believe it is time for Eragon's swordsmanship to be tested."

"Agreed," Arya said.

"Ok, who is going to test me?" Eragon asked still stunned.

"Who would you like to test you?" Brenden asked.

"I have already seen how you are with a blade, I guess I would like to see Arya's skill." Eragon said somewhat relieved it wasn't going to be Brenden testing him.

"Try not to sound too relieved, Arya is way better than you." Brenden warned him.

"It's better than what happened when we first dueled, you kicked Zar'roc out of my hand and knocked me to my knees holding your blades where they were in an X shape ready to cut off my head, and that was after you effortlessly got past Brom and Murtagh." Eragon told him with a playful edge to his voice.

"What can I say, I'm amazing, I am awesome, I am legendary, take your pick.." Brenden told them smugly with a big grin on his face.

Arya rolled her eyes and said, "If you're done bragging I would like to begin.

Arya and Eragon took their stances across from each other with Brenden watching closely along with the remaining varden on the training grounds. As Arya and Eragon spared the Varden grew more at ease and were eventually almost cheering at every clang of their swords. Soon though Eragon's attacks were slow and sluggish and Arya disarmed him and held her sword at his throat.

Brenden heard her say to Eragon, "You are adequate." Before she stalked off and contacted the two of them with her mind and told them to follow her. She started to run when eragon and Saphira took off after briefly talking to Orik and a goliath of a man named Fedric. Soon Brenden took off too following Arya at a much faster pace than she was running at.

When Brenden caught up with them Arya was talking to Eragon intently and they both seemed oblivious to his arrival, as he turned around to leave he felt an arm on his shoulder stopping him. He turned around to see Arya grabbing his arm.

"Hold on I'd like to talk to you alone." Arya told him, he then saw that Eragon was leaving to go see Orik. Once she left she told him to explain the message to her.

"I'd explain it but, it would only make you more confused than you are, I was hoping it would be familiar enough to gain your trust though." Brenden told shrugging. "I guess I was wrong."

"What do you mean familiar? Have we met before?" She asked attentively studying him closely.

"All in due time, just know this you have no reason to distrust me, in fact you have more reason to trust me than just about anyone else here." He told her with a look of longing in his eye wishing for her to remember.

"One last thing, you told me you were trying not to bring someone's attention to you, who." arya asked frowning at the lack of information he was giving her.

"A being more dangerous than Galbatorix could ever hope to be, someone powerful enough to effortlessly plunge this world into eternal darkness." He told her gravely before turning around to leave before she could bombard him with more questions. Then he ran back to his quarters to prepare for the oncoming battle.

 **Author's note: I know I left an author's note already, I just wanted to tell you that I am going to skip the war council and the preparation Arya and Eragon do because as it was already explained that Brenden took care of this, and he told you the strategy that was going to happen, so there would be no point to it, sorry if it leaves too large of a plot hole for you hopefully the battle will be enough to satisfy you.**


	6. Bane of the Darkness

**Author's Note: This chapter will go between multiple points of view and you will finally get to see some real action, I hope you enjoy it, please leave a review, I'd like to know what I can improve on, thank you.**

As Brenden gathered up the different weapons he would use he thought of different ways to slay the urgals. He thought about obliterating them all with magic, he also thought about using his shapeshifting as a way of desolating the enemy. He decided he would go with a heat of the moment sort of thing. He was not worried though about the outcome, in fact he knew they would win unless Galbatorix chose to send in multiple shades and the Ra'zac to contend with him, he knew Galbatorix would be wary of him since the exchange at Uru'baen. He soon abandoned such thoughts and took his equipment and donned his armour. The armour he wore was jet black with golden streaks spiraling along into a brick sized ruby in the middle. The helmet was in the shape of a dragon's with no bottom to it to take weight away from it overall, it was very similar to Saphira's armour. There were obsidian colored spikes coming out at the knuckles of his armour for punching, and on the back there were two 4 inch long slits for a special purpose incase he needed to become air borne. The armour itself was heavily plated while also was able to turn with ease with him and seemed to bend as he moved without damaging the metal. His favorite part about the armour was that it was enchanted to meld with him as he shape-shifted. Soon he was finished and he went to his position at the battle field.

Brenden was to relay as much as he could to Ajihad through the twins, which he strongly disliked. He didn't complain though, he knew that since he had no proof Ajihad would not listen to him about the twins. He would also relay information to Eragon, Arya, Brom, and Saphira so that they would know what they're up against. He contacted them and asked them if they needed help with getting ready but, they told him they were fine and that he should just go to his position in front of the fourth tunnel.

Once he arrived there he waited, and waited until he heard the screams of urgals coming from one of the other tunnels and he heard Saphira roar over the screams. A few minutes later the first of the Urgals began to spill out of his tunnel. He held his position before he took a leap hurling himself into cutting them down with a massive great sword that was coated in lightning, with each swing of his blade urgals were hurled into the air as if they were nothing more than leaves in the wind. As he cut down urgals more went to take their place, they soon began to overrun him but, a smile never left his face and once when they got close he stabbed his blade into the ground and a massive pulse of energy erupted out of the sword killing any urgal it touched for over three hundred feet.

Brom contacted him in a panic, " _What was that explosion, are you trying to kill us all?"_

" _Relax, it didn't even reach the varden or the dwarves."_ Brenden told him dismissively.

Urgals continued to swarm him from the tunnels and attempt to slay him. He encountered Magicians who tried to break through his defenses but, before they could he would shatter their minds and their sanity as if they were nothing more than an ant. He would than slay the magicians with a single word before he would move on to the next one. While he battled the magicians, he would slash and stab the urgals felling them with ease. Soon many kull surrounded him in circle with their shields acting as a wall, in answer to this problem he simply vaulted into the air and leapt onto one of the kulls' shoulders and he quickly decapitated it with blood squirting upwards, he then leapt of the monstrous kill as it fell and he sliced down the remaining kull leaving none standing.

Eragon asked him, " _Do you need any help, the urgals are endless, many parts of the varden are being overrun, they're like a plague of locust leaving death and destruction in their wake."_

" _No, I'm fine continue to assist the varden and if you see Arya, ask her to contact me."_ Brenden told him quickly while he dueled seven kull who had attempted to flank him.

Brenden soon stood on a mound of bodies forcing the urgals to climb up to him and he sliced them down before they could even reach the top. As they climbed he often times would simply use an assortment of spells to freeze them in place, burn them with acid, snap their neck, rip them apart and many spells that simply obliterated the urgals. He continued to desolate the urgals for hours as the battle was fought. Their numbers seemed to be endless, they continued to swarm him and he felled them with ease not tiring. Eventually the Urgals attacking the Varden and the Dwarves Began to abandon their battles with the varden in an effort to slay him and win glory for their tribes

Not wanting to disappoint the oncoming urgals he shapeshifted into a black dragon over one hundred feet in length and 50 feet tall, with three heads and titanic wings. He then took flight and flew into the oncoming urgals and blasting the urgals with lightning instead of fire. After decimating hundreds of urgals he landed and swiped the urgals away. As fast as a snake he bit into a group of urgals and swallowed 7 urgals whole and roared, urgals were disgusting, he was going to have drink molten lava to get that taste out of his mouth. As he clawed and bit and blasted lightning into the urgals ranks several kull began to climb up his tail to attempt to find a weak point in his armour. Brenden merely took flight and corkscrewed through the air launching them by the dozens towards the ground. Soon the whole of the Varden were cheering and he soon saw the remaining urgals flee for the safety of the tunnels to escape his wrath. He shape shifted back into his human form ready to pursue them when all of a sudden he was blasted with a barrage of spells coming from the tunnels, fire, electricity, ice, acid, and many more forms of energy blasted him causing a colossal explosion that shook the whole mountain causing massive icicles and slabs of rock to fall from above and kill many of the varden and from the mouth of the tunnel at least two hundred men stood draped in blood-red armour emerged and at their head was Durza, standing there in triumph.

Saphira roared as loud as she could as a challenge to the two-leg horned ones, she heard their screams as they burned in the liquid fire the Varden poured into the tunnel. Soon the two legged horned escaped from the flames and fell upon the two legs round ears pushing back their defenses. She could smell burned flesh, hear the screams, and taste the blood in the air.

As the partner of her mind shifted he told her, " _Saphira, we need to help them."_

She growled in approval, she would bath the ground in the blood of the urgals, she would rip them to pieces for joining the treacherous oath-breaker. She leaped into the air and flew directly towards a knot of urgals. She landed and sliced an urgal open with her claws and bit into the next one behind it. Soon there were mounds of victims surrounding her and Eragon. In the distance she could see young body, old mind, fearless hunter Brenden battling through the urgals casually hurling dozens of them into the air with his massive greatsword sword which seemed to glow with fury, as she looked closer at it she saw that it was not glowing but burning with a flame so intense that as it hit the urgals the blade caused them to burst into flame. She returned her attention to the battle when 5 kull charged her from the right, she felt Eragon fall from her saddle when he attempted to stop a kull from stabbing her left wing. She whirled around but Eragon was pushed farther away from her due to the tide of the battle. She attempted to charge after him when she was completely surrounded by kull with long sticks with metal protruding from the end. With these weapons they were able to keep her from pouncing on them and it was all she could do to not be overtaken by the kull. She continued to try to make one of the urgals make a mistake but, they refused to slip up. Before Eragon could make his way back to Saphira with the help of Murtagh they managed to bloody her snout and prick her wings, and they continued to dent her armour plating that protected her chest and it soon restricted her breathing because it was so tight. When Eragon finally reached her he contacted Arya and asked her help him get Saphira's breastplate off at the Dragon hold and within minutes Arya had arrived to go with them to the Dragonhold and they landed to help Saphira, they went to work slowly prying off the armour as they worked to get the armour off they could hear mighty roars outside as if a massive dragon was battling his way through the mountain.

Eragon went to the entrance of the Dragonhold to see what was going on and when he returned he said, "Brenden must have a three headed Dragon as one of his allies but, instead of breathing fire, it shoots lightning."

"That's not possible, no dragon like that exists." Arya told him frowning slightly.

"Really and I guess the fact that Brenden can move faster than we can see, make portals that can teleport him through time and space, blast apart a battalion of kull single handedly, and plan out a war that would last for at least a hundred years but, it's impossible for Brenden to have a three headed ally." Eragon told her frustrated that she kept doubting a friend and ally who not only saved her but probably saved the Varden.

" _Enough Eragon, Arya, we need to get this armour off so we can return to the battle._ " Saphira told them to stop an argument from breaking out.

With that they began working faster than before and when they almost finished prying of the armour, a massive explosion rocked Farthen dur causing small bits of stone to fall from above Saphira looked above to see that the dragon hold was in danger of collapsing. Seeing this Saphira picked up Eragon and Arya who were in shock for some reason and took flight dodging rocks as they fell. She felt a sharp pain as a large rock clipped her side as they managed to escape the dragon hold and they landed atop the isidar Mithrim. Just outside of the dragon hold. Eragon ran forwards and pointed out a large cloud of smoke before saying, "The explosion came from where Brenden was we have to see if he's alive."

Arya turned sharply towards and him told, "Whatever caused that explosion is too powerful for us to contend with, and even with his immense abilities there is no way even Brenden could have survived such an explosion. We must evacuate as much as Farthen Dur as we can and hope that we can make it to Du Weldenvarden and to seek protection amongst my kind."

" _Eragon she speaks the truth, there is no way he could have survived such a blast."_ Saphira told him grieving slightly because Brenden had down much to bring about the downfall of Galbatorix and he even saved Brom, but she knew that there was no way for him to have survived that explosion caused massive damage to the mountain, and it looked like Brenden had been at the epicenter of it. She looked closer at the cloud of smoke searching for any signs of movement despite this. As she looked she saw what looked to be large groups of humans draped in red armour and felt a sense of foreboding as she saw them.

" _There is someone in there that is clearly not part of the varden and they cannot be urgals."_ Saphira told them with their minds.

"Saphira what do they look like?" Arya asked panic stricken.

" _They were red armour and that is all I can see._ " Saphira told her surprised that the elf was as panicked as she was.

"Arya what's wrong?" Eragon asked anxious expression on his face.

"We must leave now those are shades, contact Brom now and tell him to get Ajihad, Hrothgar, and as many men out as possible now." Arya told him with a horrified expression on her face. Eragon stepped to the side to relay this information as Arya continued on talking. "I find this disturbing even for Galbatorix, an army of shades...one was horrific enough but the fact that he would make hundreds is an abomination."

" _He nearly destroyed my kind and has rendered us almost extinct it is not to hard of a concept for me to grasp, the traitorous king must pay for his crimes. This army of shades is a way to show he feared our power in the future and that he feared Brenden's power even more than any of us realized."_ Saphira told them both full of rage.

"I contacted Brom and told him what happened, he had already begun evacuating the Varden and the Dwarves for fear the mountain will not hold. He has already reached an escape tunnel Brenden had told Hrothgar, Ajihad, and Brom about. They have evacuated at least a thousand people so far and he said that he can get hopefully another 2-3 thousand out." Eragon told them as he finished talking to Brom. "He said that the three of us need to leave now, Farthen Dur has fallen."

It was at this point a booming voice spoke outwards Saphira recognized it as Durza from Eragon's memories, "Your mightiest warrior has fallen Dragon rider, surrender yourself to me and the varden will be spared, you are all we want. You have ten minutes to surrender yourself before we kill everyone in this mountain and march onto Surda, and then finally the elves."

As soon as Durza finished a new voice spoke outwards louder than Durza's voice and in a language older than the ancient language and resonating with power and when it finished the smoke from the explosion cleared and a figure stood there far larger than any kull standing at least 15ft high. It had dragon like wings on its back with two swords in each hand, not only that but it had long claws and an armour plated tail and at the end of the tail it had a golden spike that ended in the shape of a triton.

"You thought you could defeat me, I will fall upon the empire stronger and faster than the ocean crashes upon the land. I am the guardian of the sacred flame, he who walked through the darkness and survived, I am the Bane of shadows and you will fall if you remain here. I am more powerful than you could ever imagine. Now flee or die." The figure, who was undoubtedly Brenden roared in anger.

All of a sudden Brenden told Arya, Saphira and Eragon to run and that he would either kill any shade who dares to fight him or, he would collapse the mountain and kill all the shades if they managed to overwhelm him.

At once the shades either attacked or fled from Brenden's wrath, he knew this would undoubtedly attract the attention of something far worse than Galbatorix and his shades could ever hope to be but, at this point he knew that he needed to force the shades to flee as soon as possible if he was going to buy the varden time to escape the mountains. When the few shades who thought to attack him arrived he returned to his normal form and moved fast enough that he could reach around shields and swords without them being able to even react but, with 30 shades attacking at once he needed to stay on his toes if he wanted show them why they should fear him. He continued to hack and slash with his favorite weapons, two swords that represented total opposites but, when used together were unrivaled in power. One the power of darkness the other the power of light. He hacked and slashed twisted and slowly began to fell the shades. One by one shades began to fall but, they soon began casting spells while the others continued to batter Brenden's defenses so that he couldn't slay the spell casters. As he fought he could feel what remained of his wards fading having them already be heavily depleted from the explosion earlier, he acted in desperation by changing shape into a speedster and he instantly blitzed the shades casting spells as they had to go first. He snapped one shade's neck within the first second. He phased his hand into shades heart and shredded that one. He immediately started charging his electricity in order to throw rapid fire lightning bolts all the while running circles around the shade and speed punching them hard enough to send them flying at least 30 feet. Once there was enough lightning for him to throw he electrocuted 10 of the remaining 12 to death. He then leaped forwards and snapped the remaining shades necks. He knew that he didn't permanently kill all the shades but, he was able to put some down and he probably gave Galbatorix a good idea of what he was up against which was good and bad because Galbatorix might get desperate now.

Brenden sighed and said to himself, "What's done is done, now I must live with what has happened."

With that, he ran up to the star sapphire shrunk it down in case the dwarves were never able to return to their mountain home and he made it that he could regrow the star sapphire to full size as gift for them then he left Farthen Dur and left to meet up with the dwarves.

 **Author's note: Sorry i haven't added to this in a while, I wass busy with school, please leave a review**


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